This paper will serve as a guide for those who would like to use
literature
in the classroom with their young students, but aren't sure how to
begin.

Introduction

For some readers, the very word literature brings to mind dusty,
difficult
books stacked in a rarely frequented corner of the library. Typically,
in
an EFL/ESL context, literature is associated with advanced university
students
or other high level adults. However, children's literature is an
important
part of English language literature as a body of work, and using it for
EFL/ESL
teaching has many benefits for students.

Given a creative teaching approach and suitable supplemental
activities,
children's literature can be used successfully as the content base for
an
integrated-skills EFL/ESL classroom. Appropriate selections give
students
exposure to new, illustrated vocabulary in context, provide repetition
of
key words and phrases that students can master and learn to manipulate,
and
provide a sense of accomplishment at the completion of study that
finishing
a single unit in a textbook cannot provide. Turning to the last page of
a
well-read book is a pleasure, and students feel a sense of
accomplishment
when they have mastered a piece of literature written in English,
regardless
of whether it is The Cat in the Hat or Ulysses.

The suggestions here are based on my teaching experience with first,
second, and third grade EFL learners from fairly low to intermediate
levels
of proficiency. Most of these students were still developing a
vocabulary
base with which to navigate their new language, and so were in the
pre-production
to early production stages of language acquisition (Haynes 2001). As
such,
every phase of this approach aims to increase students' exposure to
English
and to help them build their English vocabulary.

Choosing a Book

Choosing the right book may be the most difficult, and most important,
part of teaching literature. In a study of the increasing popularity of
using
literature in the second language classroom, Radhika O'Sullivan (1991,
Selecting
Literature section, para. 1) observed that, "It is all very well to
point
out the advantages of teaching literature but the key to success in
using
literature in the ESL classroom depends primarily on the works
selected."
If the selection is too easy, students will feel bored and you will
have
difficulty designing enough activities. If the selection is too
difficult,
students will feel frustrated and you will be overwhelmed. The
following
guidelines may help you narrow down the field of choices.

When evaluating potential books, look at:

The length and complexity of the story. Simple, short stories
with
repetitive language work best for young EFL learners.

Does the book look overwhelming? Type that is too small, or too
many
words on a page, can intimidate young students.

The level of vocabulary. How much of it will be review for your
students?
If students know less than 75% - 80% of the vocabulary, they may lose
confidence
in their ability to understand the story.

Illustrations should be interesting and should help students
understand
both the vocabulary and the story.

Finally, select a book that you think you will enjoy. It will be
difficult
to convince students to be enthusiastic about a story you don't like.

A selection of recommended titles is provided in the Appendix.

Preparing to Teach

Lesson Planning

Before you start designing worksheets and wordlists, make sure that you
know where you're going. Think about your teaching objective, consider
how
much time you have to spend with the book, and then create a plan so
that
you have a systematic approach in mind as you design materials.

Allow Enough Time

Spending enough time with the book is very important. In order for
young
students to fully absorb an English language book, they must interact
with
it extensively. Dr. Seuss's The Foot Book contains 131 words,
47 of
which are the word feet or foot, yet spending five or six hours on a
simple
book like this is appropriate with young, beginning learners. Even more
advanced young learners need plenty of time. We're Going on a Bear
Hunt,
a book based on a popular children's summer camp song, is very short
and
simple by adult standards, but my second grade EFL students spent over
ten
hours and sixteen class periods studying it. They were never bored,
and,
in fact, their enthusiasm for the book seemed to increase in proportion
to
the time they spent studying it. This observation is supported by
Sabrina
Peck (2003, p. 141), who advises teachers of young learners that, "Many
children do not tire of practicing a repetitive and rhythmic text
several
times a day, many days a week."

Use What You Find

Look for features of the book that you can highlight in the classroom.
For example, The Foot Book uses opposites and counting. You can
work
these two concepts into your supplemental activities. We're Going
on a
Bear Hunt is a great springboard for teaching vocabulary about
nature
(forest, river, cave, mud, snowstorm) and prepositions (over, under,
through).
Inside a Barn in the Country provides an obvious focus on animal
names and sounds.

Developing Materials

Developing materials yourself, while challenging and time-consuming,
can
be very rewarding. Not only is it a good learning experience which may
help
give you insight into your teaching, it also allows you to target the
types
of activities that will be most valuable to your students, and to
tailor
them exactly to fit their needs. To go a step further, Brian Tomlinson
(1999,
Introduction section, para. 2), asserts that the most meaningful
learning
takes place when students are "involved intellectually, aesthetically,
and
emotionally" in their own education. When teachers choose to use
student-created
materials, instead of pre-fabricated, one-size fits all published ones,
they
can begin to accomplish goals like these.

Workbook

Young students need hands-on activities. A teacher-created workbook can
act as a basis for one of those types of activities.

Keep things simple. The workbook need be nothing more than a
collection
of papers stapled together. On the first day of teaching a new book,
allow
students to illustrate the covers of their own workbooks. This can
provide
a personal connection to the story at the outset of their study. You
can
use the pages as a place for students to draw artistic responses to the
story.
For example, if they've learned "house/mouse/train/rain" in class, then
the
lesson wrap-up may include time for them to draw a picture featuring
the
vocabulary words and labeled in English.

Flashcards

Again, materials do not need to be professionally produced to be
effective.
Assign different key vocabulary words to different students and have
them
help make flashcards. You can collect and laminate the drawings and use
them
for various activities in follow up lessons. It is amazing to see the
rapt
attention students are willing to give materials they created
themselves.

Cassette Tape

Many books are available with a companion cassette tape, which often
includes
versions of the story set to music or with sound effects. These tapes
are
well worth the investment and, if possible, students will benefit from
purchasing
their own copy as well so they can listen at home. The story set to
music
is more entertaining for your students, who might express it by
borrowing
from Emma Goldman, and saying, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in
your
EFL classroom."

If no tape is available, don't despair! If you are a virtuoso, you
could
set the story to music yourself and record it. If not, you could coerce
your
older, higher proficiency students to read the story and record it as a
class
project. You could enlist precocious young ones to make drumming sounds
at
pre-determined intervals or, if you have truly musical students, you
could
find some way to use their talents. My sixth grade students
particularly
enjoyed noticing how "easy" the literature for first graders was as it
gave
them a real sense of their own progress.

Teaching Ideas

Sequencing Activities

Young learners in particular need a very active classroom and variety
throughout
the lesson. Ten minutes is probably the maximum length of time you can
expect
students of this age to focus their attention before you need to change
gears.
One guideline that works well with young learners is to assure that, in
any
given lesson, there is always a little enthusiastic singing, a little
quiet
listening, a little enthusiastic dancing, and a little quiet artwork.

The following approach is one that works very well:

Sing. Students sing, recite, or read a passage from the
story
in teams.

Listen. Students listen to the story from beginning to end.

Dance. Students get out of their chairs for some physical
activity.
Often, this can be acting out the actions from the story, but there are
unlimited possibilities.

Draw. Students sit back down and illustrate new vocabulary.

While considering how you will allocate class time, don't underestimate
the students' enthusiasm for listening to a story again and again. In
fact,
according to Anne Burns (2003, p. 22), a surprising result from her
study
of second-language learner attitudes toward literacy learning included
the
insight that "students were almost unanimous in their desire for
teachers
to read aloud to them." She credited the value of hearing fluent
reading in
English, listening to the written words, hearing correct stress and
intonation
patterns, as well as providing a model for imitation as possible
reasons.

Types of Activities

Listen to the story on tape/as read by the teacher without
looking at
the text.

Listen to the story and read along.

Listen to the story and put illustrations depicting parts of the
story
in order.

Read the book silently.

Read the book to a partner, then switch.

Write your favorite words/new words/words starting with A from
the story
in your notebook.

Play pictionary. Divide students into teams. One member of the
team
draws a picture on the board while team members try to guess what it is
within
a limited time period.

Speed reading game. Call out a word from the text, then let
students
race to find it. The first one to find it reads the sentence aloud. A
word
of caution: this game is rather hard on books.

Have students display the flashcards they made, let them be the
teacher
and ask the class, "What is this?"

Make up a dance or do actions to the words of the story. A good
example
of this kind of story is The Foot Book. The text repeats, "Left
Foot/Left
Foot/Right Foot/Right." Students can get out of their chairs and jump
from
left to right as suggested by the text.

Do the opposite of dancing. Have students "freeze" a moment of
the
text by acting out exactly what is described in the text at some
specific
moment, and holding perfectly still. You could photograph these moments
if
you have a digital camera.

Do a verbal fill-in-the-blank exercise. As you read, stop at
random
and have students shout out what word comes next.

Check comprehension of key concepts by asking students to draw
pictures.
For example, students could demonstrate understanding of the difference
between "I like kimchi."/"I don't like kimchi." by
drawing
two different pictures.

A note about memorization. A lot of students really do enjoy
memorizing
the books. Allow them to recite what they've memorized in teams. Many
students
love to show off their English, and feel very proud of being able to
produce
a minute or so of non-stop English.

Conclusion

Using children's literature can be an effective and enjoyable way to
teach
language. Students who are enthralled by a story forget their worries
and
anxieties about the new language. In an interview with Tova Ackerman
(1994,
para. 2), storyteller Dvora Shurman says that, "The best way to teach
is
not to impose teaching, but to allow the listener to become so involved
in
hearing a story that his 'defenses' are no longer active." It is our
sense
of enjoyment, excitement, and emotional involvement that is a necessary
condition
for learning, and using literature in the classroom can provide the
content
base for the magic.

References

Ackerman, T. (1994) Storytelling: A Way of Freeing the
Imagination.
An Interview with Dvora Shurman. The
Journal of the Imagination in Language
Learning and Teaching, 2. Retrieved December 31, 2003, from http://www.njcu.edu/cill/journal-index.html.

Appendix

Suggested Titles

For Absolute Beginners:

These are very short stories with a few simple words that repeat over
and
over again. They will not overwhelm beginning students.

I Like Books by Anthony Browne

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and
Eric
Carle (Illustrator)

For Beginners:

These stories have more text, but still use simple vocabulary and a
repetitive
narrative structure.

The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

Inside a Barn in the Country by Tedd Arnold (Illustrator) and
Alyssa
Satin Capucilli

Silly Sally by Audrey Wood and Don Wood (Illustrator)

For Intermediate Students:

These books are well-suited for young learners with a full year of
English
study experience. Vocabulary is generally simple, but the stories are
much
longer. They do retain the features of repetitive passages and the
first
three on the list are set to music, which will help students absorb
them.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
(Illustrator)